Links platform-as-a-service

ABSTRACT

The present technology pertains to a link service that can create, maintain, and service links to objects on behalf of a content management system or other services. The link service can share administration of links with other services when desired or can even allow other services to issue the link and manage the object that is the subject of the link while providing other functions to support the link. Additionally, link service can interface with a file system that can support links as actors in the file system, whereby greater control and flexibility in supporting links is provided. Link service can also accommodate servicing and management of links issued by legacy services, where the legacy services have unique link logic that should still be utilized to maintain a consistent user experience.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology pertains to links to objects in a contentmanagement system, and more particularly pertains to identifying a linkas an actor in a file system, whereby an access control list can be usedto regulate access to the object.

BACKGROUND

It is common to share links that can provide access to objects in acontent management system. However, the links are often not tightlycoupled to the file system of the content management system such thatthe access provided by the links may not be consistent with the accesscontrol logic that is utilized by the file system. Often, it isnecessary for content management systems to utilize additional logic todetermine if a link is valid, if a link caller is a proper link holder,and to boot-strap access permissions to the object in the file systemfor the link caller. Most file systems rely on a subject that is anactor in a file system, and a statement of rights. For example, a usercan have read/write access. But in the case of a link, where the linkcaller is not known to the file system, whom should the file systemidentify as an actor to determine whether access is permitted, or whattype of access should be allowed? Such issues create much complexity andlimit the flexibility and functionality of link sharing by a contentmanagement system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-recited and other advantages and features of the presenttechnology will become apparent by reference to specific implementationsillustrated in the appended drawings. A person of ordinary skill in theart will understand that these drawings only show some examples of thepresent technology and would not limit the scope of the presenttechnology to these examples. Furthermore, the skilled artisan willappreciate the principles of the present technology as described andexplained with additional specificity and detail through the use of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a content management system and clientdevices in accordance with some aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 2 illustrates additional details of the content management systemincluding a link service in accordance with some aspects of the presenttechnology;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an object database in accordance withsome aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 4 illustrates subject database in accordance with some aspects ofthe present technology;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method for accessing an object referencedby a link managed by the link service in accordance with some aspects ofthe present technology;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example sequence diagram for accessing an objectreferenced by a link managed by the link service in accordance with someaspects of the present technology;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method for evaluating an access controllist composed from individual permission statements for an object in adirectory tree in accordance with some aspects of the presenttechnology;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example link service and some example servicesperformed by the link service in accordance with some aspects of thepresent technology;

FIG. 9 illustrates some example APIs and their functions in accordancewith some aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example method for creating a link in accordancewith some aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 11A illustrates an example user interface for creating a link usingthe link service in accordance with some aspects of the presenttechnology;

FIG. 11B illustrates an example user interface provided by a third-partyservice, where the third-party service can create a link that canredirect to the link service in accordance with some aspects of thepresent technology;

FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B illustrate portions of an example method forco-managing a link by the link service, operating as alink-platform-as-a-service, and the third-party service in accordancewith some aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example sequence diagram for co-managing the linkby the link service in accordance with some aspects of the presenttechnology;

FIG. 14 illustrates an example method for supporting legacy links inaccordance with some aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B illustrate sequence diagrams illustratingalternate call flows for supporting a legacy link in accordance withsome aspects of the present technology; and

FIG. 16 shows an example of a system for implementing some aspects ofthe present technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various examples of the present technology are discussed in detailbelow. While specific implementations are discussed, it should beunderstood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A personskilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components andconfigurations may be used without parting from the spirit and scope ofthe present technology.

Most content management systems are optimized for a particular usagemodel and are poorly suited to any other mechanism of usage. This workedfine for content management systems that were deployed in a specificinstance on an enterprise level but are not suitable for moderncloud-based content management systems.

One example illustrating how modern content management systems requiremore flexibility is link sharing. It is common to share links that canprovide access to objects in a content management system. However, thelinks are often not tightly coupled to the file system of the contentmanagement system such that the access provided by the links may not beconsistent with the access control logic that is utilized by the filesystem. Often it is necessary for content management systems to utilizeadditional logic to determine if a link is valid if a link caller is aproper link holder, and to boot-strap access permissions to the objectin the file system for the link caller. Most file systems rely on asubject that is an actor in a file system, and a statement of rightsrecorded in an access control list. For example, a user can haveread/write access. But in the case of a link, where the link caller isnot known to the file system, who should the file system identify as anactor to determine whether access is permitted, or what type of accessshould be allowed? Such issues create much complexity and limit theflexibility and functionality of link sharing by a content managementsystem. For example, such a scenario can result in a user being grantedaccess to an object even though they are not permitted to have access tothe object in the access control list in the file system. Such abehavior is not desirable, but it is necessary to enable link sharingfunctionality

The disclosed technology addresses the need in the art for improvedobject access when an object is requested via a link by a link caller.Specifically, the present technology can identify a link as a knownsubject in the file system itself. As such, a link can be an actor givenrights in an access control list. This provides a number of benefits. Aprimary benefit is that the file system can directly determine access toa requested object utilizing its regular access control list (ACL)evaluation. Whether the object is requested by an anonymous link callerthrough a link or directly through a registered user account of thecontent management system that has access permissions in the accesscontrol list, the file system can evaluate access to the object in thesame way.

The present technology can efficiently check access at read time. Whenan object is requested by any client of the content management system,the content management system can efficiently determine if there havebeen any changes in access. And when it is determined that a change inaccess has occurred, the content management system can determine newaccess privileges (or loss thereof).

The present technology also provides for a more flexible accesspermission model. Access permissions for an object can apply to a wholedirectory, can apply only to a particular object, can be inherited froma global policy, can be inherited from a direct ancestor, can suppresspermissions that would otherwise be inherited, can provide policies thatare not able to be suppressed, etc. Any combination of the abovepolicies can be aggregated to make up an access control list for aparticular object in a given directory tree. Accordingly, the presenttechnology can accommodate just about any customized collection ofaccess policies.

Since access is always checked at read time, and access can be evaluatedat an object level, access associated with a link can be modified at anytime by adjusting the access control list associated with the object andthe link.

In addition, the present technology eliminates the need for aconventional user account of the content management system to providelinks to objects. Other services or IOT devices may wish to send a link.Accordingly, the present technology includes a link service. The linkservice can be offered in a software-as-a-service model, where entities(user accounts, services, devices, etc.) can create links to objects inthe file system. The link service can perform a variety of functions inaddition to establishing the link in the file system. For example, thelink service can also perform logging, abuse prevention, blocking, etc.The link service can also implement or enforce additional link policesbeyond the access policies enforced by the file system. The link servicecan be implemented as a service provided by a content management system,or a separate platform that interfaces with a content management system.

Further, the present technology can accommodate existing links. Whilethese existing links might utilize the aforementioned additional logicto support such links, it is desired that legacy links remain validlinks. Accordingly, the link service of the present technology can alsointerface with existing link logic while still allowing a file system toevaluate access via the link as an actor within the file system.

Additionally, the additional services that might wish to utilize thelink service might wish to provide a user experience that gives theadditional services more control over the link and the use thereof. Inother words, the additional services might not wish to fully hand overlink handling to the link service. The present technology can alsohandle such use cases by providing for co-management of a link by theadditional services and the link service of the present technology. Inthis way, the additional services can maintain control where theydesire, and outsource the rest of link handling to the link service.

These and other benefits over the prior art are described herein.

In some embodiments, the disclosed technology is deployed in the contextof a content management system having object synchronizationcapabilities and collaboration features, among others. An example systemconfiguration 100 is shown in FIG. 1 , which depicts content managementsystem 110 interacting with client device 150.

Accounts

Content management system 110 can store objects in association withaccounts, as well as perform a variety of object management tasks, suchas retrieve, modify, browse, and/or share the object(s). Furthermore,content management system 110 can enable an account to access object(s)from multiple client devices.

Content management system 110 supports a plurality of accounts. Asubject (user, group, team, company, third-party service, link service,device, etc.) can create an account with content management system, andaccount details can be stored in subjects database 140. Subjectsdatabase 140 can identify a registered subject by a subject ID, andstore profile information for registered subjects in association withthe subject ID. In some cases, profile information for registeredsubjects includes a subject name and/or email address. Subjects database140 can include account management information, such as account type(e.g. various tiers of free or paid accounts), storage space allocated,storage space used, client devices 150 having a registered contentmanagement client application 152 resident thereon, security settings,personal configuration settings, etc. In some embodiments, someinformation associated with an account may not be directly stored, andrather this information can be derived. For example, storage space usedmight be explicitly stored, or it can be calculated when needed.

In some embodiments, subjects database 140 need not store completeinformation associated with an account for a subject. Some portion ofinformation associated with an account for a subject can also be storedin another database of content management system 110 such as metadatadatabase 146, or in a database external to content management system110.

Subjects database 140 can store groups of accounts associated with asubject. Groups can have permissions based on group permissionsstatements and/or access control lists, and members of the groups caninherit the permissions. For example, a marketing group can have accessto one set of objects while an engineering group can have access toanother set of objects. An administrator group can modify groups, modifysubject accounts, etc. Groups are also subjects identified by subjectID.

In some embodiments, subjects database 140 can be broken into aplurality of tables, indexes and other data structures.

Object Storage

A feature of content management system 110 is the storage of objects,which can be stored in object storage 142. An object generally is anyentity that can be recorded in a file system. Objects can be any objectincluding digital data such as documents, collaboration objects, textfiles, audio files, image files, video files, webpages, executablefiles, binary files, object directories, folders, zip files, playlists,albums, symlinks, cloud docs, mounts, placeholder objects referencingother objects in content management system 110 or in other contentmanagement systems, etc.

In some embodiments, objects can be grouped into a collection, which canrefer to a folder including a plurality of objects, or a plurality ofobjects that are related or grouped by a common attribute.

In some embodiments, object storage 142 is combined with other types ofstorage or databases to handle specific functions. Object storage 142can store objects, while metadata regarding the objects can be stored inmetadata database 146. Likewise, data regarding where an object isstored in object storage 142 can be stored in object directory 144.Additionally, data regarding changes, access, etc. can be stored inobjects database 148. Objects database 148 can also include a subjectaccount identifier that identifies the subject IDs that have access tothe object.

In some embodiments, objects database 148 can be broken into a pluralityof tables, indexes and other data structures.

Each of the various storages/databases such as object storage 142,object directory 144, objects database 148, and metadata database 146can be comprised of more than one such storage or database and can bedistributed over many devices and locations. Other configurations arealso possible. For example, data from object storage 142, objectdirectory 144, objects database 148, and/or metadata database 146 may becombined into one or more object storages or databases or furthersegmented into additional object storages or databases. Thus, contentmanagement system 110 may include more or less storages and/or databasesthan shown in FIG. 1 .

In some embodiments, object storage 142 is associated with at least onefile system 116, which includes software or other processor executableinstructions for managing the storage of objects including, but notlimited to, receiving objects for storage, preparing objects forstorage, selecting a storage location for the object, retrieving objectsfrom storage, etc. In some embodiments, file system 116 can divide anobject into smaller chunks for storage at object storage 142. Thelocation of each chunk making up an object can be recorded in objectdirectory 144. Object directory 144 can include a content entry for eachobject stored in object storage 142. The content entry can be associatedwith an object ID, which uniquely identifies an object.

In some embodiments, each object and each chunk of an object can also beidentified from a deterministic hash function. This method ofidentifying an object and chunks of objects can ensure that objectduplicates are recognized as such since the deterministic hash functionwill output the same hash for every copy of the same object, but willoutput a different hash for a different object. Using this methodology,file system 116 can output a unique hash for each different version ofan object.

File system 116 can also designate or record a parent of an object or acontent path for an object in objects database 148. The content path caninclude the name of the object and/or folder hierarchy associated withthe object. For example, the content path can include a folder or pathof folders in which the object is stored in a local file system on aclient device. In some embodiments, object database might only store adirect ancestor or direct child of any object, which allows a full pathfor an object to be derived, and can be more efficient than storing thewhole path for an object.

While objects are stored in object storage 142 in blocks and may not bestored under a tree like directory structure, such directory structureis a comfortable navigation structure for subjects viewing objects. Filesystem 116 can define or record a content path for an object wherein the“root” node of a directory structure can be any directory with specificaccess privileges assigned to it, as opposed to a directory thatinherits access privileges from another directory.

In some embodiments, a root directory can be mounted underneath anotherroot directory to give the appearance of a single directory structure.This can occur when an account has access to a plurality of rootdirectories. As addressed above, the directory structure is merely acomfortable navigation structure for subjects viewing objects, but itdoes not correlate to storage locations of objects in object storage142.

While the directory structure in which an account views objects does notcorrelate to storage locations of the objects at content managementsystem 110, the directory structure can correlate to storage locationsof the objects on client device 150 depending on the file system used byclient device 150.

As addressed above, a content entry in object directory 144 can alsoinclude the location of each chunk making up an object. Morespecifically, the content entry can include content pointers thatidentify the location in object storage 142 of the chunks that make upthe object.

File system 116 can decrease the amount of storage space required byidentifying duplicate objects or duplicate blocks that make up an objector versions of an object. Instead of storing multiple copies, objectstorage 142 can store a single copy of the object or block of theobject, and object directory 144 can include a pointer or othermechanism to link the duplicates to the single copy.

File system 116 can also store metadata describing objects, objecttypes, folders, file path, and/or the relationship of objects to variousaccounts, collections, or groups in metadata database 146, inassociation with the object ID of the object.

File system 116 can also store a log of data regarding changes, access,etc. in objects database 148. Objects database 148 can include theobject ID of the object and can optionally include a description of thechange or access action along with a time stamp or version number andany other relevant data. Objects database 148 can also include pointersto blocks affected by the change or object access. File system 116 canalso provide the ability to undo operations, by using an object versioncontrol mechanism that tracks changes to objects, different versions ofobjects (including diverging version trees), and a change history thatcan be acquired from objects database 148.

Object Synchronization

Another feature of content management system 110 is synchronization ofobjects with at least one client device 150. Client device(s) 150 cantake different forms and have different capabilities. For example,client device 150 ₁ is a computing device having a local file systemaccessible by multiple applications resident thereon. Client device 150₂ is a computing device wherein objects are only accessible to aspecific application or by permission given by the specific application,and the objects are typically stored either in an application specificspace or in the cloud. Client device 150 ₃ is any client deviceaccessing content management system 110 via a web browser and accessingobjects via a web interface. While example client devices 150 ₁, 150 ₂,and 150 ₃ are depicted in form factors such as a laptop, mobile device,or web browser, it should be understood that the descriptions thereofare not limited to devices of these example form factors. For example, amobile device such as client 150 ₂ might have a local file systemaccessible by multiple applications resident thereon, or client 150 ₂might access content management system 110 via a web browser. As such,the form factor should not be considered limiting when consideringclient 150's capabilities. One or more functions described herein withrespect to client device 150 may or may not be available on every clientdevice depending on the specific capabilities of the device—the fileaccess model being one such capability.

In many embodiments, client devices 150 are associated with an accountof content management system 110, but In some embodiments, clientdevices 150 can access content using shared links and do not require anaccount.

As noted above, some client devices can access content management system110 using a web browser. However, client devices can also access contentmanagement system 110 using client application 152 stored and running onclient device 150. Client application 152 can include a clientsynchronization service 156.

Client synchronization service 156 can be in communication with serversynchronization service 112 to synchronize changes to objects betweenclient device 150 and content management system 110.

Client device 150 can synchronize content with content management system110 via client synchronization service 156. The synchronization can beplatform agnostic. That is, content can be synchronized across multipleclient devices of varying types, capabilities, operating systems, etc.Client synchronization service 156 can synchronize any changes (e.g.,new, deleted, modified, copied, or moved objects) to objects in adesignated location of a file system of client device 150.

Objects can be synchronized from client device 150 to content managementsystem 110, and vice versa. In embodiments wherein synchronization isfrom client device 150 to content management system 110, a subject canmanipulate objects directly from the file system of client device 150,while client synchronization service 156 can monitor directory on clientdevice 150 for changes to files within the monitored folders.

When client synchronization service 156 detects a write, move, copy, ordelete of content in a directory that it monitors, clientsynchronization service 156 can synchronize the changes to contentmanagement storage service 116. In some embodiments, clientsynchronization service 156 can perform some functions of contentmanagement storage service 116 including functions addressed above suchas dividing the object into blocks, hashing the object to generate aunique identifier, etc. Client synchronization service 156 can indexcontent within client storage index 164 and save the result in clientstorage index 164. Indexing can include storing paths plus the objectidentifier, and a unique identifier for each object. In someembodiments, client synchronization service 156 learns the objectidentifier from server synchronization service 112, and learns theunique client identifier from the operating system of client device 150.

Client synchronization service 156 can use storage index 164 tofacilitate the synchronization of at least a portion of the objectswithin client storage with objects associated with a subject account oncontent management system 110. For example, client synchronizationservice 156 can compare storage index 164 with content management system110 and detect differences between content on client storage and contentassociated with a subject account on content management system 110.Client synchronization service 156 can then attempt to reconciledifferences by uploading, downloading, modifying, and deleting contenton client storage as appropriate. File system 116 can store the changedor new block for the object and update objects database 148, metadatadatabase 146, object directory 144, object storage 142, subjectsdatabase 140, etc. as appropriate.

When synchronizing from content management system 110 to client device150, data regarding a mount, modification, addition, deletion, move ofan object recorded in objects database 148 can trigger a notification tobe sent to client device 150 using notification service 117. When clientdevice 150 is informed of the change, client device 150 can make arequest for changes listed in objects database 148 since the lastsynchronization point known to the client device. When client device 150determines that it is out of synchronization with content managementsystem 110, client synchronization service 156 requests object blocksincluding the changes, and updates its local copy of the changedobjects.

In some embodiments, storage index 164 stores tree data structureswherein one tree reflects the latest representation of a directoryaccording to server synchronization service 112, while another treereflects the latest representation of the directory according to clientsynchronization service 156. Client synchronization service can work toensure that the tree structures match by requesting data from serversynchronization service 112 or committing changes on client device 150to content management system 110.

Sometimes client device 150 might not have a network connectionavailable. In this scenario, client synchronization service 156 canmonitor the linked collection for object changes and queue those changesfor later synchronization to content management system 110 when anetwork connection is available. Similarly, a subject can manuallystart, stop, pause, or resume synchronization with content managementsystem 110.

Client synchronization service 156 can synchronize all contentassociated with a particular subject account on content managementsystem 110. Alternatively, client synchronization service 156 canselectively synchronize some of the objects associated with theparticular subject account on content management system 110. Selectivelysynchronizing only some of the objects can preserve space on clientdevice 150 and save bandwidth.

In some embodiments, client synchronization service 156 selectivelystores a portion of the objects associated with the particular subjectaccount and stores placeholder objects in client storage for theremainder portion of the objects. For example, client synchronizationservice 156 can store a placeholder object that has the same filename,path, extension, metadata, of its respective complete object on contentmanagement system 110, but lacking the data of the complete object. Theplaceholder object can be a few bytes or less in size while therespective complete object might be significantly larger. After clientdevice 150 attempts to access the object, client synchronization service156 can retrieve the data of the object from content management system110 and provide the complete object to client device 150. This approachcan provide significant space and bandwidth savings while stillproviding full access to a subject's objects on content managementsystem 110.

While the synchronization embodiments addressed above referred to clientdevice 150 and a server of content management system 110, it should beappreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a user accountcan have any number of client devices 150 all synchronizing objects withcontent management system 110, such that changes to an object on any oneclient device 150 can propagate to other client devices 150 throughtheir respective synchronization with content management system 110.

Collaboration Features

Another feature of content management system 110 is to facilitatecollaboration between subjects. Collaboration features include objectsharing, commenting on objects, co-working on objects in real time,instant messaging, providing presence and “seen” state informationregarding objects, etc.

Sharing

Content management system 110 can manage sharing objects via sharingservice 128 or link service 136. Sharing content by sharing service caninclude linking content using sharing service 128 to share contentwithin content management system 110 with at least one additionalsubject account (in addition to the original subject account associatedwith the object) so that each subject account has access to the objectwithin their respective accounts. The additional subject account cangain access to the content by accepting the content, which will then beaccessible through either web interface service 124 or directly fromwithin the directory structure associated with their account on clientdevice 150. The sharing can be performed in a platform agnostic manner.That is, the content can be shared across multiple client devices 150 ofvarying type, capabilities, operating systems, etc. The content can alsobe shared across varying types of subject accounts.

To share an object within content management system 110 sharing service128 can associate a subject ID of a team or of one or more subjectaccounts with an object in objects database 148 associated with theobject, thus granting the added subject account(s) access to the object.Sharing service 128 can also remove subject IDs from being permitted toaccess an object in objects database 148 to restrict a subject account'saccess to the object. Sharing service 128 can record object identifiers,subject identifiers given access to an object, and access levels inobjects database 148. For example, in some embodiments, subjectidentifiers associated with a single object can specify differentpermissions for respective subject identifiers with respect to theassociated object.

In some embodiments, content management system 110 can include an accesscontrol list 145 which includes a description of complete access rightspertaining to a respective object. An access control list for anyrespective object in content management system can be derived fromobjects database 148. In some embodiments, it is not desirable tomaintain a persistent access control list 145 for a respective object,as an access control list 145 for a respective object can be derivedwhen needed. In some embodiments, objects can inherit access rights fromanother object such as ancestor objects.

Objects can also be shared so that they are accessible by a link. Linkservice 136 is a software-as-a-service platform that can create links toobjects, handle management of links, and perform link related functionssuch as logging, abuse prevention, integration with third-partyservices, and other functions as will be described in further detailherein.

To share objects outside of content management system 110, link service136 can generate a custom network address, such as a uniform resourcelocator (URL), which allows any web browser to access the object orcollection in content management system 110. Link service 136 caninclude content identification data in the generated URL, which canlater be used to properly identify and return the requested object. Forexample, link service 136 can receive a request to access an objectidentified in a link, and can perform link related functions, andcommunicate with file system 116 to evaluate access permissionsassociated with the link. Once access is determined, link service 116can return a file system access token in a message identifying an objectID and optionally a subject ID which can be used by the link caller toretrieve the object from file system 116.

In addition to generating the URL, link service 136 can also beconfigured to record, in objects database 148, that a URL to the objecthas been created. In some embodiments, an entry into objects database148 associated with an object can include a URL flag indicating whethera URL to the object has been created. For example, the URL flag can be aBoolean value initially set to 0 or false to indicate that a URL to theobject has not been created. Sharing service 128 can change the value ofthe flag to 1 or true after generating a URL to the object. Sharingservice 136 can also create a new subject ID identifying the link insubjects database 140. This action makes the link an actor within thefile system 116. As used herein, a subject ID for a link can be referredto as a Link_sID.

In some embodiments, sharing service 128 can associate a set ofpermissions to a Link_sID relative to an object. For example, if objectis accessed via the URL, sharing service 128 can provide a limited setof permissions for the object based on the permissions associated withrespect to the Link_sID for that object. Examples of limited permissionsinclude restrictions that the subject cannot download the object, savethe object, copy the object, modify the object, etc. In someembodiments, limited permissions include restrictions that only permitan object to be accessed from with a specified domain, i.e., from withina corporate network domain, or by accounts associated with a specifieddomain, e.g., accounts associated with a company account (e.g.,@acme.com).

In some embodiments, link service 136 can also be configured todeactivate a generated URL. For example, each entry into objectsdatabase 148 can also include a URL active flag indicating whether thecontent should be returned in response to a request from the generatedURL. For example, link service 136 can only return an object requestedby a generated link if the URL active flag is set to 1 or true. Thus,access to an object for which a URL has been generated can be easilyrestricted by changing the value of the URL active flag. This allows asubject to restrict access to the shared object without having to movethe object or delete the generated URL. Likewise, sharing service 128can reactivate the URL by again changing the value of the URL activeflag to 1 or true. A subject can thus easily restore access to theobject without the need to generate a new URL. Access to an object canalso be modified by modifying a permissions statement associated withthe Link_sID for the object. This can also occur after a link has beendistributed.

In some embodiments, content management system 110 can designate a URLfor uploading an object. For example, a first subject with a subjectaccount can request such a URL, provide the URL to a contributingsubject and the contributing subject can upload an object to the firstsubject's subject account using the URL.

While link service 136 is illustrated as being a service offered as partof content management system 110, link service 136 can be a separateservice.

Team Service

In some embodiments, content management system 110 includes team service130. Team service 130 can provide functionality for creating andmanaging defined teams of subject accounts. Teams can be created for acompany, with sub-teams (e.g., business units, or project teams, etc.),and subject accounts assigned to teams and sub-teams, or teams can becreated for any defined group of subject accounts. Teams service 130 canprovide a common shared space for the team, private subject accountfolders, and access limited shared folders. Teams service 130 can alsoprovide a management interface for an administrator to managecollections and objects within team, and can manage subject accountsthat are associated with the team. Teams, sub-teams, subject accountsare all given a subject identifier in subjects database 140, and themembership to teams by subject accounts is also recorded in subjectsdatabase 140.

IAM (Identity and Access Management) Service

In some embodiments, content management system 110 includes IAM service132. IAM service 132 can authenticate a subject account. For subjectaccounts with multiple levels of rights (e.g. a subject account withsubject rights and administrator rights) IAM service 132 can alsofacilitate explicit privilege escalation to avoid unintentional actionsby administrators.

Object Access

File system 116 can receive a token from client application 152 thatfollows a request to access an object and can return the capabilitiespermitted to the subject account. While File system 116 is illustratedas a separate entity from object storage 142, references to file system116 can refer to file system 116 performing operations on object storage142. For example, a reference to subject making a request for an objectfrom file system 116 refers to file system 116 performing operations todetermine whether access is permitted and retrieving objects from objectstorage 142. Thus references to file system 116 can be a proxy forreferring to the collective file system 116 and object storage 142.

Presence and Seen State

In some embodiments, content management system can provide informationabout how subjects with which an object is shared are interacting orhave interacted with the object. In some embodiments, content managementsystem 110 can report that a subject with which an object is shared iscurrently viewing the object. For example, client collaboration service160 can notify notifications service 117 when client device 150 isaccessing the object. Notifications service 117 can then notify allclient devices of other subjects having access to the same object of thepresence of the subject of client device 150 with respect to the object.

In some embodiments, content management system 110 can report a historyof subject interaction with a shared object. Collaboration service 126can query data sources such as metadata database 146 and objectsdatabase 148 to determine that a subject has saved the object, that asubject has yet to view the object, etc., and disseminate this statusinformation using notification service 117 to other subjects so thatthey can know who currently is or has viewed or modified the object.

Collaboration service 126 can facilitate comments associated withcontent, even if an object does not natively support commentingfunctionality. Such comments can be stored in metadata database 146.

Collaboration service 126 can originate and transmit notifications forsubjects. For example, a subject can mention another subject in acomment and collaboration service 126 can send a notification to thatsubject letting them know that they have been mentioned in the comment.Various other object events can trigger notifications, includingdeleting an object, sharing an object, etc.

Collaboration service 126 can also provide a messaging platform wherebysubjects can send and receive instant messages, voice calls, emails,etc.

Collaboration Objects

In some embodiments, content management service can also includecollaborative document service 134 which can provide an interactiveobject collaboration platform whereby subjects can simultaneously createcollaboration objects, comment in the collaboration objects, and managetasks within the collaboration objects. Collaboration objects can befiles that subjects can create and edit using a collaboration objecteditor, and can contain collaboration object elements. Collaborationobject elements may include a collaboration object identifier, one ormore author identifiers, collaboration object text, collaboration objectattributes, interaction information, comments, sharing subjects, etc.Collaboration object elements can be stored as database entities, whichallows for searching and retrieving the collaboration objects. Multiplesubjects may access, view, edit, and collaborate on collaborationobjects at the same time or at different times. In some embodiments,this can be managed by requiring two subjects access an object through aweb interface and there they can work on the same copy of the object atthe same time.

Collaboration Companion Interface

In some embodiments, client collaboration service 160 can provide anative application companion interface for the purpose of displayinginformation relevant to an object being presented on client device 150.In embodiments wherein an object is accessed by a native applicationstored and executed on client device 150, where the object is in adesignated location of the file system of client device 150 such thatthe object is managed by content application 152, the native applicationmay not provide any native way to display the above addressedcollaboration data. In such embodiments, client collaboration service160 can detect that a subject has opened an object, and can provide anoverlay with additional information for the object, such ascollaboration data. For example, the additional information can includecomments for the object, status of the object, activity of othersubjects previously or currently viewing the object. Such an overlay canwarn a subject that changes might be lost because another subject iscurrently editing the object.

In some embodiments, one or more of the services or storages/databasesdiscussed above can be accessed using public or private applicationprogramming interfaces.

Certain software applications can access object storage 142 via an APIon behalf of a subject. For example, a software package such as anapplication running on client device 150, can programmatically make APIcalls directly to content management system 110 when a subject providesauthentication credentials, to read, write, create, delete, share, orotherwise manipulate content.

A subject can view or manipulate content stored in a subject account viaa web interface generated and served by web interface service 124. Forexample, the subject can navigate in a web browser to a web addressprovided by content management system 110. Changes or updates to contentin the object storage 142 made through the web interface, such asuploading a new version of an object, can be propagated back to otherclient devices associated with the subject's account. For example,multiple client devices, each with their own client software, can beassociated with a single account and objects in the account can besynchronized between each of the multiple client devices.

Client device 150 can connect to content management system 110 on behalfof a subject. A subject can directly interact with client device 150,for example when client device 150 is a desktop or laptop computer,phone, television, internet-of-things device, etc. Alternatively oradditionally, client device 150 can act on behalf of the subject withoutthe subject having physical access to client device 150, for examplewhen client device 150 is a server.

Some features of client device 150 are enabled by an applicationinstalled on client device 150. In some embodiments, the application caninclude a content management system specific component. For example, thecontent management system specific component can be a stand-aloneapplication 152, one or more application plug-ins, and/or a browserextension. However, the subject can also interact with contentmanagement system 110 via a third-party application, such as a webbrowser, that resides on client device 150 and is configured tocommunicate with content management system 110. In variousimplementations, the client-side application 152 can present a subjectinterface (UI) for a subject to interact with content management system110. For example, the subject can interact with the content managementsystem 110 via a file system explorer integrated with the file system orvia a webpage displayed using a web browser application.

In some embodiments, client application 152 can be configured to manageand synchronize content for more than one account of content managementsystem 110. In such embodiments client application 152 can remain loggedinto multiple accounts and provide normal services for the multipleaccounts. In some embodiments, each account can appear as folder in afile system, and all objects within that folder can be synchronized withcontent management system 110. In some embodiments, client application152 can include a selector to choose one of the multiple accounts to bethe primary account or default account.

Third-party Services

In some embodiments, content management system 110 can includefunctionality to interface with one or more third-party services such asworkspace services, email services, task services, etc. In suchembodiments, content management system 110 can be provided with logincredentials for a subject account at the third-party service to interactwith the third-party service to bring functionality or data from thosethird-party services into various subject interfaces provided by contentmanagement system 110.

In some embodiments, third-party services can also interact with contentmanagement system 110 through link service 136, wherein the third-partyservice can request links to be created on its behalf by link service136.

While content management system 110 is presented with specificcomponents, it should be understood by one skilled in the art, that thearchitectural configuration of system 100 is simply one possibleconfiguration and that other configurations with more or fewercomponents are possible. Further, a service can have more or lessfunctionality, even including functionality described as being withanother service. Moreover, features described herein with respect to anembodiment can be combined with features described with respect toanother embodiment.

While system 100 is presented with specific components, it should beunderstood by one skilled in the art, that the architecturalconfiguration of system 100 is simply one possible configuration andthat other configurations with more or fewer components are possible.

FIG. 2 illustrates additional details of content management system 110,in accordance with some embodiments. For example, FIG. 2 illustratesfile system 116 which, as described above, is configured to determinewhere objects are stored in object storage 142, among other functions.

Object storage 142 is illustrated as being divided amongst a pluralityof object storage shards 142 n and associated with each shard is aportion of objects database 148. Objects are distributed across variousof the object storage shards 142 n, and data associated with the objecton a particular object storage shard 142 n is stored in the portion ofobjects database 148 that is also stored on the same shard. Tofacilitate this distribution of object storage database 142 across aplurality of shards, file system 116 can direct data to be written intoobjects database 148 to the appropriate portion of the object databaseon the appropriate shard. Furthermore, when an object is moved from oneobject storage shard 142 n to another object storage shard 142 n, filesystem 116 is responsible for both migrating the object across shardsand for migrating data in objects database 148 pertaining to that objectto the new object storage shard 142 n.

FIG. 2 also illustrates IAM service 132 in communication with filesystem 116 and subjects database 140. As will be addressed furtherherein, IAM service 132 can interact with file system 116 and objectsdatabase 148 to determine access information pertaining to objects. IAMservice 132 can also interact with subjects database 140 to performidentity and access services.

FIG. 2 also illustrates, generically, services which represent any oneof services discussed with respect to FIG. 1 or other services that mayneed to interact with or otherwise be a client of file system 116,objects database 148, or metadata database 146 to perform one or morefunctions described further herein.

FIG. 2 also illustrates link service 136 having one or more APIs 138that provide interfaces that can be called by client device 150, filesystem 116, third-party services 170 and legacy link services 135 totake advantage of various functions performed by link service 136.

Link service 136 is a software-as-a-service platform that can handlecreation of links to objects and provides a variety of link services.The most basic function of link service 136 is to receive requeststhrough API 138 to create and issue a link. Upon receiving such arequest, link service 136 can create and/or map a URL to an objectand/or an entity with metadata about the URL. In some embodiments, linkservice 136 can also handle creation and enforcement of link settingssuch as link expirations, password, audience. Link service 136 can alsocontrol who can create links to some objects and prevent link creationfor non-verified users. Link service 136 can ensure that any linkconforms to other sharing or access policies associated with an object.

Another critical function of link service 136 is to receive requeststhrough API 138 to access an object of metadata that is mapped by a URLcalled by a link caller. Receiving such requests includes more than thebasic validating of a link and serving the requested content. Linkservice 136 can also perform functions related to rate limiting(limiting how often or quickly a link can be called), abuse prevention,banning of links, analytics, metrics and logging, link sender andvisitor tracking, audit logging. Link service 136 can also provide anadministrator interface to manage links.

In some embodiments, link service 136 utilizes logic of file system 116to determine whether a link caller has access to an object to which alink refers. For example, link service 136 can utilize file system 116to determine whether a link caller should be able to access an object towhich a link refers. As will be addressed herein, link service canestablish the link as an actor (i.e., a subject ID, sID, or specificallywhen referring to a link, a link_sID) within the file system 116, wherethe link_sID is associated with specified permissions in a permissionstatement.

In some embodiments, link service 136 utilizes logic external to a filesystem to determine whether a link caller has access to an object towhich a link refers, link service 136 can utilize third-party service170 to determine whether a link caller should be able to access theobject. A third-party service in the context of this example might be aservice that generates content but utilizes link service to share thecontent. Third-party service 170 might also use content managementsystem 110 to store content generated on the third-party service 170. Athird-party service 170 in the context of this example might also be aservice that does not create objects, but instead offers services, suchas the signing of documents, video conferences, workflows, etc. to whichobjects are relevant. Utilizing third-party service 170 to determinewhether a link caller should be able to access the object isparticularly useful when a third-party service utilizes link service 136to issue a link, but third-party service 170 desires to share somemanagement of the link. This example is also useful when third-partyservice 170 issued the link, but desires to utilize link service 136 tomanage the link.

In another example of utilizing logic external to the file system todetermine whether a link caller has access to an object to which a linkrefers, link service 136 can utilize legacy link service 135 todetermine whether a link caller should be able to access the object.This example is particularly useful when an issued link utilizes accesslogic different than the access logic provided by link service 136. Inthis way, legacy links can continue to provide a user experience that alink caller expects, while link service 136 can take over management andmaintenance of the link.

In some embodiments, link service 136 can utilize logic of file system116 together with logic provided by third-party service 170 or legacylink service 135 to support some links.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of objects database 148, in accordancewith some embodiments. Objects database 148 can be made up of acollection of tables and indexes, however, FIG. 3 illustrates accesscontrol list (ACL) table 202 and object table 212.

The tables objects database 148 are all key-value stores, however, thepresent technology should not be limited to such data structures. Allthe tables in objects database 148 refer to an object ID (oID) and ahybrid logical clock (HLC). In the tables in objects database 148, oIDand HLC make up the key for performing lookups in the various tables inobjects database 148.

The oID is an ID for an object. An object generally is any entity thatcan be recorded in the file system. The hybrid logical clock (HLC) is aclock value that combines aspects of a time clock and a logical clock.HLC guarantees that all events on a particular machine will be recordedin the order that they happen and also that all events after atransmission on a receiving machine will be ordered after the eventsbefore the transmission on the sending machine.

As introduced, objects database 148 can be made up of several tables.ACL table 202 is optimized to record all changes in permissions(including access) pertaining to an object. In some embodiments,permissions are expressed in terms of a tuple of subject, action,capability, and inheritance, and these are all recorded in ACL table202. While reference to a tuple is used throughout this description,persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that any mechanismto represent a collection of values can be used.

A subject (identified by a subject ID (sID)) pertains to any actor inthe content management system. In the case of a link, the subject ID maybe referred to as a link_sID. An actor can be a subject account for anindividual, a team or group that maps to accounts of individuals, anorganization that maps to teams, a group of groups, a link, a device, anorganization, third-party service 170, or any entity, etc. In someembodiments, more than one subject ID can be listed in a permissionsstatement.

An action defines whether a subject is allowed or not allowed to performa capability and can be conditional on other factors. The table belowdescribes some example actions.

Action Description Allow Allow the capability if the subject is in sIDDeny Deny the capability if the subject is in sID Allow_If_Not Allow thecapability if the subject is NOT in sID Deny_If_Not Deny the capabilityif the subject is NOT in sID Allow_Inherit Allow inheritance of thecapability if the subject is in sID Deny_Inherit Deny inheritance of thecapability if the subject is in sID Allow_Inherit_If_Not Allowinheritance of the capability if the subject is NOT in sIDDeny_Inherit_If_Not Deny inheritance of the capability if the subject isNOT in sIDCollectively these actions provide for the ability to create highlycustomized permission statements. As noted above, the present technologyprovides an improvement over the state of the art by supporting a widearray of potential permissions, and by accounting for a wide variety ofpermission organization schemes in a highly efficient system. Someentity accounts might be governed by general-purpose top-level rules,but for which exceptions might sometimes be necessary. For example, anorganization account might allow the sharing of objects by team membersas long as the sharing is within the organization. This policy would bea top-level policy that applies to every object in the organization'saccount. But it might be the case that an exception needs to be made,and the actions above would allow such an exception.

Some actions also refer to an inheritance. ACL table 202 also includes acolumn regarding inheritance order, which refers to whether the objectshould inherit permissions from another object. Most content managementsystems follow an inherit last scheme where, in a tree directorystructure, every node inherits permissions from its immediate ancestor.However, the present technology can support inheritance from either thetop of a directory structure, or from the direct ancestor (inheritlast), or to not inherit permissions at all. The combination of theseinheritance schemes also contributes to the highly customizedpermissions possible for any object. It is possible to have all objectscomply with an inherit-first permissions statement, which can be thoughtof as a top-level policy that applies to all objects below it in adirectory tree, while also having inheritance for some properties comingfrom its immediate ancestor. It is also possible, that a specific objectcould inherit none of the inherit-first or inherit-last permissionsstatements. In some instances, it is possible that a subject could haveaccess to an object without having access to any ancestor or childobjects in a directory structure.

The capability value of the ACL table 202 defines what privileges arebeing impacted. The privileges in the capability column are defined incombination with the action and inheritance columns. The table belowidentifies and describes some example capabilities (when coupled with an“Allow” action).

Capabilities Description None The subject has no privileges to theobject. This can also be used to remove privileges from a subject. ReadThe subject can read the object. Write The subject can edit the objector add objects to a directory. Comment The subject can comment on anobject. Set ACL The subject can define privileges for the object(editing of action, capability, or inheritance) for the object. DeleteThe subject can delete the object. All The subject has all privileges onan object.

Collectively the sID, Action, Capability, and Inheritance columnsrepresent a tuple that makes up specific permissions statementspertaining to an object. Each row can include multiple of these tuplespertaining to an object ID that were affected at the stated hybridlogical clock value.

Permissions can be added or changed for the object ID at a later time(later hybrid logical clock value), and those permission statements canbe listed in a new row pertaining to the object ID and the later hybridlogical clock value.

In the case of links, the ability to create a link may be governed byexisting permissions statements governing the object. For example, if anobject is existing in object storage 142 with existing permissionsstatements, the ability to create a link depends on whether an accessinguser is permitted to create a link.

In some embodiments, a new object can be stored in object storage 142just for the purpose of sharing a link. For example, link service 136might store an object in content storage 142 by interfacing with filesystem 116.

When link service 136 is permitted to create a link to an object inobject storage 142, link service 136 interfaces with file system 116 tocreate a link_sID that identifies the link as an actor in thepermissions statement tuple. Allowing the link to be an actor that isrecognized by file system 116 provides benefits in that access to anobject pointed to by a link does not require ongoing access by theentity that created the link for the link to remain effective. Forexample, if the entity that created the link loses access to the object,the link can continue to function. In another benefit, since the link isan actor that is recognized by file system 116, an anonymous user canstill access the object via the link. The file system 116 and the linkservice 136 will recognize that the object is accessed by an anonymoususer instead of providing access through a proxy of another user'saccess to the file system.

When referring to capabilities for a given object in the context of acontent management system, it is common to refer to an Access ControlList (ACL), which is a definition of all of the permissions provided toan object. In some embodiments, of the present technology, no ACL isstored, but it can be derived as will be addressed with respect to FIG.7 , below.

FIG. 3 also illustrates object table 212, which records informationregarding changes made to an object. Object table 212 also includescolumns for object ID and hybrid logical clock to identify the objectand the system time that the modification occurred. In addition torecording changes made to objects, object table 212 can be used toidentify versions of an object at particular times.

Object table 212 can also be used to identify an approximate date andtime to which a hybrid logical clock value can correspond, calledModification Time. Modification Time is a representation of clock time(date and time of day) that a change was made.

Object table 212 also includes a column that identifies the type ofobject. For example, a column can indicate whether an object is a fileor directory. In some embodiments, the modification to the object mightnot be to change the object itself but could be to mount a directoryunder another directory. In the example of a mount, the type of objectcan list a target object ID for the directory in which the object ismounted. As addressed above, the tables in FIG. 3 collectively recordessential information to perform access, synchronization, and versioningtasks. The tables in FIG. 3 are configured to be highly efficient,wherein data that is not necessary for the efficient performance of theessential tasks of the content management system are excluded from thesetables. Further, these tables are maintained individually to optimizehow often, and the situations in which, it is necessary to write tothese tables.

FIG. 4 illustrates subjects database 140. While in FIG. 2 subjectsdatabase 140 is shown as being stored outside of object storage 142, itwill be appreciated that in some embodiments, subjects database 140 canbe stored across shards 142 n of object storage 142 just as with objectsdatabase 148.

Subject database 140 is configured to track essential information aboutthe subject. The subject can be any entity that might have an accountwith content management system 110 and/or that can have access to ortake action on an object. In some embodiments, a link can be a subjectas it has access and can take action on an object. Subject database 140can be broken into several different tables, or include additionalinformation that is not illustrated in FIG. 4 .

Subject table 250 is configured to record information about a subjectwhich is represented in subject table 250 as a subject ID (sID). A newrow can be written into subject table whenever a sID comes intoexistence, a sID is deleted, or some other aspect of the data recordedin subject table 250 is changed. In FIG. 4 , sIDs: Z and ILL arelink_sIDs.

In addition to the column of subject table 250 containing sIDs, subjecttable 250 also contains a column for hybrid logical clock (HLC) that canrecord a system time in which the change causing the row was affected.

Subject table 250 also contains various subject fields which recordinformation about a subject account represented by that sID. Forexample, subject table 250 can also contain a subject field for asubject name associated with the subject account or an email addressassociated with the account. When a subject is a link, the subject namemight be blank, or it might say “link”, or can include a link IDprovided by link service 136 as indicated in FIG. 4 .

In some embodiments, subject table 250 can also record whether thesubject account belongs to a particular domain. For example, if thesubject account is associated with an organization that also has asubject account with content management system, subject table 250 canrecord the mapping between the subject account and its domain. When asubject is a link, the domain might record a domain when a third-partyservice 170 created the link as illustrated for Link_sID: ILL, which isassociated with third-party service: ldct.com.

Subject table 250 also includes a column indicating whether a subject IDis managed or controlled by a parent subject ID. Just as objects canhave ancestors from which an object can inherit certain properties, asubject can also have a parent. A parent of a subject can be a subjectaccount that has the authority to manage the subject such as by givingrestrictions or permissions to the subject. In some embodiments, asubject can also inherit certain properties from a parent subject. Whena subject is a link, it might not be associated with any parent subjectif the object only exists to be shared via the link, or the Link_sIDmight have the subject that created the link as its parent. The subjectthat created the link could be a subject representing another useraccount at the content management system, a subject representing linkservice 136, a subject representing third-party service 170 utilizingthe link service 136 to create or manage a link.

Subject table 250 also includes a column denoting a root object ID. Insome embodiments, every subject account represented by a sID can beassociated with its own private directory which can appear as the rootof its account. At the same time, other root objects can be mounted inthe directory structure for the subject account below the root objectfor that subject. For example, the subject account may have a rootdirectory called “root subject” and at the same time that subjectaccount may be part of a group. The group itself may have its own rootdirectory called “group”. The group root directory can be mounted belowthe root directory for the subject such that a directory structure mightlook like “/root subject/group.” In other cases, if the subject accountis strictly tied to a subject account of an organization the root of thesubject account may appear below the root of the organization. Forexample, if the organization has a root directory called “organization”,the directory structure for the subject might look like“/organization/root subject”. The specific relationship between one rootdirectory and another root directory is purely one of implementation.However, these examples illustrate that each subject account has its ownroot directory and that any root directory can be mounted within anotherroot directory such that it appears subordinate to another directoryeven though it is the root of a subject account.

When a link is created to an object that is already present in objectstorage 142, and therefore that object is already located under a rootdirectory associated with at least one other subject, the object thathas become shared by the link can remain located in its current placeunder the root directory associated with the other subject. The Link_sIDcan be granted access to the object that is located in its current placeunder the root directory associated with the other subject. In someembodiments, file system 116 may also create a root directory for theLink_sID, but that directory may not include the object as the object islocated in its current place. Rather a root directory of the Link_sIDcould, in some embodiments, include a pointer or reference representingthe object in its location in a directory for another subject.

File system 116 is capable of handling complex policies associated withaccess to objects. For example, policies can be associated with anobject that only allows anonymous link callers read access, while linkcallers with identified sIDs known to file system 116 might have writeaccess. It is also possible to grant link callers access only to aspecific version of an object so while an object might be modified byits owner, link callers will only have access to a static document.

Subject table 250 is queried by receiving an identification of a sID anda range of HLC values and such queries can return any information shownin another column of subject table 250. While limited fields areillustrated as columns in subject table 250 it will be appreciated bythose of ordinary skill in the art that additional fields can also beincluded.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method for accessing an object referencedby a link managed by the link service, and FIG. 6 illustrates an examplesequence diagram for accessing an object referenced by a link managed bythe link service. Although the example method and sequence diagramdepicts a particular sequence of operations, the sequence may be alteredwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example,some of the operations depicted may be performed in parallel or in adifferent sequence that does not materially affect the function of thepresent technology. In other examples, different components of anexample device or system that implements the present technology mayperform functions at substantially the same time or in a specificsequence. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 will be addressed together.

Initially, a link caller activates a link at node 301, which results ina request to access an object referred to by the link. The request canpoint to API 138 to request the object and can include data embedded inthe LinkUrl, and can optionally include a subject ID if the Link Calleris associated with a session with content management system 110.

As used herein, a link caller can be a client device with a user thatcannot be identified (anonymous user), a client device having anestablished session with content management system 110, a softwareservice of content management system 110, or third-party service 170.

In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a request to accessan object referred to by a link from a first client device at node 305.For example, link service 136 may receive a request to access an objectreferred to by a link from a first client device. In some embodiments,the request is directed to API 138 before being forwarded to linkservice 136.

After receiving the request to access the object, link service 136 canvalidate the link and/or perform other link services 308. In someembodiments, link service 136 can validate the link by determinizingwhether the link is a currently valid link, that the link references aproper object, and by looking up various link metadata. The linkmetadata can include determining a link_sID, link properties, linkcapabilities (get object, modify link, etc.). In some embodiments, linkservice 136 can also perform a variety of link services as will beaddressed further below. Some examples of link services are linklogging, exploit prevention, link banning, rate throttling, etc.

Link service 138 can also identify the link caller as a user account oran anonymous account at node 310. For example, link service 136 canidentify the link caller as a user account of content management system110, or if no user account is identified, link service 136 can determinethat the link caller is anonymous. In some embodiments, link service 136can identify the user account of content management system 110 when theclient device is associated with a session with content managementsystem 110. In some embodiments, the request to access the object caninclude a sID for the user account. In some embodiments, link service136 can interact with IAM service 132 to identify a user account and sIDassociated with the client device 150.

However, in some embodiments, link service 136 can identify an anonymoususer account associated with the request to access the object. Forexample, when the client device calling the link is not associated witha session with content management system 110 or is otherwise unknown toIAM service 132, link service 136 may not be able to identify a knownuser account, and the link caller can be considered to be anonymous.

Whether the link caller is an identified user account or an anonymoususer, the link can reference or be associated with a link_sID of thelink.

Once link service 136 has extracted or learned any sID for a useraccount, if any, and the link_sID associated with the link itself, linkservice 136 can return a file system access object to client device 150that includes an identification of the object in object storage 142 anda file system authentication token that includes any sIDs or link_sIDsthat might provide permissions in file system 116 to access the objectat node 315. For example, the link service 136 may include a link_sIDfor the link, and can include any sIDs associated with an identifieduser account, if any, in the authentication token. The authenticationtoken gives a temporary access to file system 116 to the link caller.

The method further includes sending a file system access object 335including the authentication token and an identification of the objectin a file system to the first client device at node 335. For example,link service 136 may send the filesystem access message including theauthentication token and the identification of the object in a filesystem to the first client device/link caller. The file system accessobject can also include metadata instructing the link caller to accessone or more APIs at the file system to get the object or changepermissions to the link, or to interact with Link Service 136 to modifyother link properties, such as deleting the link.

Upon receiving the file system access object, client device 150 canrequest 338 the object directly from the file system. In someembodiments, the method includes receiving a request to access an objectidentified in the file system access message from the link caller atnode 340. For example, file system 116 may receive a request to accessthe object identified in the file system access message from the linkcaller. The file system access object can include the authenticationtoken and the identification of the object in the file system. As notedabove, the authentication token was issued by link service 136 thatverified the link used by the link caller.

In some embodiments, the method includes determining whether theauthentication token identifies a subject ID (sID) for a user accountthat is granted access in access permissions for the object in additionto a link_sID at node 345. For example, the file system 116 maydetermine whether the authentication token identifies a subject ID. Whenfile system 116 determines that a subject ID (sID) for a user account isincluded in the authentication token, file system 116 can determinewhether an update to the subject database 140 or object database 148 isneeded. For example, when file system 116 determines that theauthentication token identifies the user account (sID) in addition tothe link_sID the file system 116 can associate the subject ID (sID) ofthe user account as a member of the link_sID of the link in subjectdatabase 140, whereby the subject ID of the user account is associatedwith the link_sID of the link at node 325. In addition, file system 116can associate the subject ID (sID) with the object in object database148.

In some embodiments, the method includes representing the object in alocation in the user account at node 330. For example, since the subjectID (sID) of a user account of content management system 110 isassociated directly with the object ID (oID), the object can berepresented in a location in the user account.

In some embodiments, the method includes evaluating any permissionstatements relevant to the access of the object by the file system atnode 350. For example, the file system 116 may evaluate any permissionstatements relevant to the access of the object by the file systempertaining to any sID or link_sID identified at determination 345. Oneadvantage of the present technology is that the file system 116 hasultimate control over object access. File system 116 can evaluate objectaccess as it normally would for any other object such that the filesystem 116 will only determine that the object can be served if asubject ID associated with the object (whether the link_sID or othersID) is permitted to access the object in the access control list. Moredetail on how file system 116 can determine whether a subject ID (sID orlink_sID) has access to an object is provided with respect to FIG. 7 .

While file system 116 has control over access to an object, file system116 may also query link service 136 to determine if link service 136might have additional access restrictions or to confirm that the link isvalid. For example, the file system 116 may request the accesspermissions for the object from the link service 136, and link service136 can determine 353 and send any access restrictions to file system116. In some embodiments, some of the link access restrictions checks353 may be redundant with steps taken at 308, however, this check canconfirm that the link has not been revoked in the time since issuing thefile system access object 335. The link access restriction check 353 canalso be used to implement additional link policies not nativelysupported by file system 116.

In some embodiments, the method includes sending the object to the linkcaller consistent with the access permissions for the object when thesubject ID is permitted access to the object at node 355. For example,the file system 116 may send the object to the link caller consistentwith the access permissions for the object when the subject ID ispermitted access to the object.

The link caller can receive 357 the object.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method for evaluating an access controllist composed of individual permission statements for an object in adirectory tree. Although the example method illustrated in FIG. 7depicts a particular sequence of operations, the sequence may be alteredwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example,some of the operations depicted may be performed in parallel or in adifferent sequence that does not materially affect the function of themethod. In other examples, different components of an example device orsystem that implements the method may perform functions at substantiallythe same time or in a specific sequence.

As addressed above, a complete access control list for any object mightnot persist in content management system 110. Instead, an ACL list for aparticular object is a vector of all permissions statements recorded inACL table 202 for all objects in a directory tree above the particularobject. The method illustrated in FIG. 7 first determines a list ofancestors above the particular object and then composes and evaluatesthe ACL.

It can be necessary to determine a subject's permissions as defined bythe ACL for the object when a client acting on behalf of a subjectaccount requests access to an object or requests to write to objectsdatabase 148 and object storage 142.

In some embodiments, the method includes determining a list of ancestorsof a specified object ID at step 405. For example, the file system 116may determine a list of ancestors of the object ID. In an example,determining a list of ancestors may include recursively performingseveral steps including retrieving a next ancestor object ID by lookingup a query object ID (starting with the specified object ID) in a tablecontaining ancestor data, building the list of ancestors by adding thenext ancestor object ID as an ancestor to the query object ID, andmaking the next ancestor ID the query object ID. This recursive processof building the list can complete when a root of the tree is reached.

In some embodiments, for the purposes of determining an access controllist for an object, a tree can include roots not accessible by thesubject account. The recursive process of building the directory treecan build a directory tree that has multiple roots, or even multipletrees that do not cross. This is a result of the ability of contentmanagement system 110 to share objects that are stored below a rootobject to which the subject does not have access.

In some embodiments, the method includes obtaining access permissionsfor each object ID in the tree of ancestors at step 410. For example,file system 116 may obtain a permission statement for each object ID inthe tree of ancestors from the ACL table 202. As addressed above, anaccess permission for an object defines at least a subject to which theaccess permission applies, a capability granted to the subject, apermission given to the subject (allow, deny, etc.) for the object, andan inheritance property for the access permission.

In some embodiments, the method includes ordering permissions statementsinto an ordered list according to the inheritance properties of therespective permissions statements. A particular permission statement canhave the inheritance property of “first” and can be non-suppressible,whereby any subsequent permissions statement in the ordered list ofpermission statements cannot override the particular permissionstatement. A particular permission statement can have the inheritanceproperty of “first” and can be suppressible, whereby any subsequentpermissions statement in the ordered list of permission statements canoverride the particular permission statement. Any permission statementhaving an inherit first property will be sorted to the top of theordered list unless a subsequent permission statement requires that itis removed. A particular permission statement can have an inheritanceproperty of “last” and these permission statements will be sorted to theend of the ordered list. A particular permission statement can have aninheritance property of “inherit none” and no permission statement willappear in the ordered list. A particular permission statement can havean inheritance property of “deny inherit” where the object ID will notinherit any permissions from its ancestors unless the permissionsstatement of an ancestor is “first” and “non-suppressible.”

File system 116 can determine (613) whether the obtained permission forany object in the directory tree includes an inheritance property of“inherit none,” and if so, file system 116 can discard (614) thepermission statement for that object. A property of “inherit none” onlyapplies to the particular object ID to which it is associated and doesnot affect whether any ancestor or descendant policies are merged andsorted into in the list.

File system 116 can determine (415) whether the obtained permission forany object in the directory tree includes an inheritance property of“deny inherit,” and if so, file system 116 can discard (420) permissionstatements from all ancestors (objects above the object ID with theproperty of deny inherit in a directory tree) unless the inheritancepolicy is a non-suppressible, inherit-first policy. Discarded permissionstatements are not merged and sorted into the list.

With the remaining permission statements, file system 116 can perform amerge and sort of these permission statements to order themappropriately for evaluation. The ordering of the permission statementscan include determining (425) that a permission statement for an objectID in the obtained permission statements has an inheritance property of“first.” File system 116 can arrange the permission statements having aninheritance property of “first” above the permission statements havingan inheritance property of “last” in the ordered list of permissionstatements by merging and sorting these permissions from a top of a listdown, where each permission is included in the list in the order inwhich it appears from top to bottom in the directory tree.

The ordering of the permission statements can further includedetermining that a permission statement for an object ID in the obtainedpermission statements has an inheritance property of “last.” File system116 can arrange (430) the permission statements pertaining to anancestor of the object ID having a permission statement with theinheritance property of “last” in the ordered list of permissionstatements by merging and sorting these permissions in the inverserelative order as their respective ancestors are arranged in the tree ofancestors. In other words, an access permission for an object at thebottom of the directory tree will be placed in the ordered list ofpermission statements above a permission statement for an object that islocated higher in the directory tree. However, all of the inherit “last”access permissions will be placed into the ordered list below accesspermissions with an inherit “first” permission statement. The orderedlist of all access permissions for an object can be considered theaccess control list (ACL) for the object.

In some embodiments, the method includes iterating through the orderedlist of permission statements, in order, until a permissions statementgrants or denies access to the object at step 435. For example, the filesystem 116 may iterate through the ordered list of permissionstatements, in order, to determine whether access should be granted ordenied.

In some embodiments, the iterating through the list can terminate when apermissions statement grants or denies access. If a inherit firstpermission can be suppressed, then it can be necessary to at leastiterate through the tree until one of the inherit “last” permissionsstatements provides or denies access. Therefore, determining whetheraccess should be granted or denied includes determining (440) whetheraccess is granted or denied by a non-suppressible inherit firstpermission. If a non-suppressible permissions statement does not resolvethe access determination, then file system 116 can evaluate (445) therest of the ordered list of permission statements until an inherit lastpermissions statement grants or denies access, and can grant or deny(450) access based on the results of the ACL evaluation.

In some embodiments, suppressible inherit first access policies can alsobe handled by noting whether those policies are suppressed by an inheritlast policy associated with an object elsewhere in the tree. In suchinstances, the suppressed inherit first access policy can be excludedfrom the merge and sort (425) and the list of permission statements canbe evaluated using straightforward iteration (435) of the list ofpermission statements without regard for the sub-method made up fromsteps 440, 445, and 450.

In some embodiments, the output of FIG. 7 can be a list of capabilitiesto any evaluated object.

The access determination method depicted in FIG. 7 can have the benefitof being very flexible. Permissions statements can be crafted thatprovide access to anyone accessing the object by the link but canprovide more specific access permissions to subjects IDs known to thecontent management system. For example, a user account of the contentmanagement can be granted greater access than an anonymous user.

In the case of shared links, the root of a tree will generally either beat the level of the shared object for objects that are stored in contentmanagement system 110 for the purpose of sharing using a link, or willbe mounted from another location in content management system 110 whenthe object is being shared from within an existing user account. In thefirst instance, when the object is stored at the root of a link_sIDaccount, the outcome of the method illustrated in FIG. 7 will generallybe determined by the access that the link provides. Whereas, when thelink provides access to an object stored elsewhere in content managementsystem 110 and mounted into the root of the link_sID account, accesswill be determined by any restrictions on access to the object itselfand access provided by the link.

FIG. 8 illustrates link service 136 and some example services performedby link service 136. As addressed above link service 136 can operate asa software-as-a-service platform wherein link service 136 can performall services associated with issuing, managing, and handling links. Itwill be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that FIG. 8may not illustrate all possible services that can be offered by linkservice 136 operating as a software-as-a-service platform. Link service136 be a service offered as part of content management system 110, orlink service 136 can be a separate service.

As addressed above, link callers, users, and services wanting to takeadvantage of link service 136 can contact link service 136 by callingone or more APIs 138 provided by the link service 136. For example, auser or service can call a link generation API which may cause API 138to initiate link configuration user interface 520 for presentation to auser to configure a link. In another example, a link caller may call alink access API, and API 138 can interface with link access service 515to obtain the object referred to by the link. In another example, filesystem 116 can make a call to a link access level API, and API 138 caninterface with link access service 515 to determine a level of accessprovided by a link. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill inthe art there can be many API's offered by link service 136 thatcorrespond to one or more functions that can be provided by link service136.

FIG. 9 illustrates some example APIs and their functions. The APIs andtheir example functions addressed herein should not be considered alimitation of the functions that can be performed by link service 136.

One function of link service 136 can be the creation of a link to anobject. As such link service 136 includes a link configuration userinterface 520 that can be presented through a web browser or anapplication on client device 150 to a user to create and configure alink to an object. As will be addressed further below FIG. 11Aillustrates an example graphical user interface provided by linkconfiguration user interface 520.

Link service 136 can also include link generation service 505. Linkgeneration service 505 can create a link as configured by a user using alink creation graphical user interface, or as instructed by a softwareservice such as a third-party service 170 or an application interfacingwith link service 136 through one or more APIs 138.

For example, FIG. 10 illustrates an example method for creating a link.Link generation service 505 can receive a request 550 to configure alink to an object where the request can identify the object. In someembodiments, the request 550 to configure the link to an object can comefrom a user interface such as illustrated in FIG. 11A, or request 550 toconfigure the link to an object can come from a service interacting viaan API 138. Link generation service 505 can create 555 a URL for thelink where the URL uniquely identifies the link to link service 136.Link service 136 can also interface 560 with file system 116 toconfigure the link in file system 116. Link service 136 can performthese functions using file system interface 525 which can communicatewith file system 116 to establish 560 the link as an actor in the filesystem as addressed above. File system interface 525 can also configure560 any permission statements relevant to the link for inclusion in theaccess control list for the object.

In some environments, the request 550 to configure a link to an objectcan identify the object by its oID when the object is stored in objectdatabase 142. However, such as when the request 550 to configure a linkto an object refers to an object that is not stored in object database142, the request can include the object itself for storage in objectdatabase 142. In some embodiments, it may not be necessary for an objectreferenced by a link to be stored in object database 142. Link service136 can interface with third-party services to provide link servicesthat reference object stored at the third-party service 170.

In addition to interfacing with file system 116, link generation service505 can store 570 metadata associated with the link including thelink_sID and oID for the linked object and any additional accessrestrictions in link database 510.

Link service 136 also provides services related to accessing objects bya link caller. For example, link service 136 can receive requests toaccess objects from a link caller that has activated a link issued bylink generation service 505. Link service 136 can utilize link accessservice 515 to validate that the link is valid and to look up linkmetadata in link database 510. Link metadata can include informationabout a type of link (a link issued by link service, a link issued by apartner service, a legacy link supported by link service, etc.), linkpermissions, link configurations, policies associated with the link, anentity that established a link, etc. Additionally, in some embodiments,file system 116 can request additional information regarding link accesslevels, and link access service 515 can return any necessaryinformation.

Link service 136 can also interface with external services to managelinks. In some environments, link service 136 can provide links to athird-party service 170 using link generation service 505, but in someembodiments, a third-party service 170 or a legacy service 135 may havecreated the link and desires link service 136 to manage aspects ofmaintaining and servicing the link. In such embodiments, external linklogic interface 530 can be used to interface with third-party service170 or legacy link service 135 to determine if a link is valid orsubject to any restrictions.

In addition to creating links, and handling visiting of links, linkservice 136 can further provide other link services. As illustrated inFIG. 8 , other link services 540 illustrates a generic placeholder toillustrate any additional link services. Some example link servicesinclude link management, limiting a rate at which a link can be visited,abuse prevention, banning of links, preventing link creation fornon-verified users, ensuring conformance with sharing policies that maybe associated with an object, standard link settings, expiry, password,audience management, analytics, metrics and logging, link sender andvisitor tracking, audit logging, admin functions, data loss prevention,integration with filesystem permissions, etc.

FIG. 11A illustrates an example user interface for creating a link usinglink service 136. Link configuration UI 520 can present the userinterface presented in FIG. 11A as the result of a request by a userthat has access to the object to which a link is to be created. Forexample, link configuration UI 520 can present the user interfacepresented in FIG. 11A as a result of a user calling theGetFileLinkActions API as illustrated in FIG. 9 .

The user interface illustrated in FIG. 11A can generate a link bycalling the CreateApplicationLink API and present a public version ofthe link in field 605. The link can further be configured with one ormore options 610. As illustrated in FIG. 11A some options 610 caninclude providing a link expiration and specifying the type of access.While not illustrated in FIG. 11A it should be appreciated that otheroptions and more complex versions of these options can be supported. Forexample, various levels of link access might be provided depending onwhether the link caller is anonymous, or is in a list of specified sIDs,or if the link caller provides a password, etc.

FIG. 11B illustrates a user interface provided by third-party service170, where third-party service 170 can create a link 615 that canredirect to link service 136. Third-party service 170 may link tocontent stored at third-party service 170 or the content can be storedby content management system 110 in object storage 142. FIG. 11B alsoprovides link options 620 such as to name specific collaborators withwhich to share the link and a level of link access. While notillustrated in FIG. 11B it should be appreciated that other options andmore complex versions of these options can be supported.

FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B illustrate portions of an example method forco-managing a link by link service 136, operating as alink-platform-as-a-service, and third-party service 170.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example sequence diagram for co-managing the linkby the link service 136. Co-management of the link can include linkservice 136 and third-party service 170 both being able to configure thelink, supply link logic to determine when a link is valid or accessible,among other aspects.

While FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B will be discussed with respect tothird-party service 170 as an example of a partner service, it will beappreciated that any service that co-manages a link with link service136 is also possible.

Although the example method illustrated in FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B and thesequence in FIG. 13 depicts a particular sequence of operations, thesequence may be altered without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. For example, some of the operations depicted may beperformed in parallel or in a different sequence that does notmaterially affect the function of the method. In other examples,different components of an example device or system that implements themethod may perform functions at substantially the same time or in aspecific sequence.

A partner service (third-party service 170, or another service ofcontent management system 110) can configure a link for co-management bylink service 136. For example, the partner service can request toestablish 701 a link at link service 136, and link service 136 canconfigure 702 the link. Part of configuring the link is to interfacewith file system 116 to create a link_sID for the link and provide thelink_sID with permissions to access an object referenced by the link.The partner service may already store the object in file system 116, orit may send the object for storage by file system 116 as part ofestablishing 701 the link at link service 136.

In some embodiments, a link caller can activate 704 the link that isissued by the partner service, which can cause the partner service toreceive 705 a request to access the object. The partner service canperform 706 its own link logic and authenticate the link and authorizethe link caller. In some embodiments, the partner service might notperform this step.

The partner service can maintain a mapping of links it has issued andco-managed links that are co-managed by the partner service and linkservice 136. After receiving the request to access the object 705 andoptionally performing any link logic 706, partner service can contactlink service 136 using the co-managed link that corresponds to the linkissued by the partner service that was activated by the link caller.

In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a request to provideaccess to an object referred to by a partner service link at node 707.For example, link service 136 can receive, from partner service, arequest to provide access to an object referred to by a partner servicelink. In some embodiments, the request to provide access to the objectfrom the partner service occurs after the partner service makes its owndetermination that the partner service link caller is authorized toaccess the object. For example, the partner service link may point tothird-party service 170, and therefore when a user activates the linkand becomes the link caller, they will be directed to third-partyservice 170. Third-party service 170 can utilize their own criteria fordetermining 706 whether the partner service link is valid and if thelink caller is authorized, then the partner service can contact linkservice 136 using a co-managed link stored by the partner service.

In some embodiments, the partner service may send the co-managed link tothe link caller, and instruct the link caller to follow the link to linkservice 136, where link service 136 can interact directly with the linkcaller.

In some embodiments, it is also possible that the partner service couldhave also established a link using link service 136 and sent that linkto the link caller. In such embodiments the link caller would notinteract with partner service at all when calling the link.

In some embodiments, the partner link can be the co-managed link,whereby the link caller can be directed directly to link service 136,without first contacting the partner service, where link service 136 canrecognize the link as a co-managed link, and can optionally interfacewith third-party service 170 using external link logic interface 530 toallow third-party service to determine whether the link is valid and ifthe link caller is authorized. In these ways, the partner service andthe link service can both make their own access determination. Such anembodiment can be useful when the partner service wants less involvementin the link handling process, and can result in the partner serviceissuing a link that it does not have to service. At the same time, thepartner service, as the link issuer, can interface with link service 136to configure (or reconfigure) the link as desired).

Accordingly, while there are mechanisms for the partner service to beless involved in the management of a link and the servicing of a linkcaller, FIG. 13 contemplates an embodiment wherein the partner servicewants to appear as if it has issued the link and is serving the object.

It will be appreciated that co-management of a link by the partnerservice can include sharing of any link management or link servicingfunctions and is not limited to determining whether the link is validand if the link caller is authorized.

In some embodiments, the identification 715 of the authorized entity isa s_ID corresponding to the link. When the partner service link directsthe link caller directly to the partner service, the partner service caninclude additional information to link service 136 when they contactlink service 136 using the co-managed link. For example, the request toprovide access to the object referred to by the partner service link canidentify an end user requesting the object and any user identifyinginformation can be included in the request 707 to the link service.

Even when the partner service does not know a sID of a link caller, thepartner service can forward an email address or other user identifier,if known. Link service 136 can attempt to match any email address oruser identifier with information that maps to a sID in subject database250.

In some embodiments, the method includes performing abuse prevention andlink access logging functions at node 710. For example, link service 136may perform abuse prevention and link access logging functions, and/orany other service desired from link service 136 operating as a linkplatform-as-a-service.

After receiving the request to access the object, link service 136 canvalidate 715 the link and/or perform other link services 308. In someembodiments, link service 136 can validate the link by determinizingwhether the link is a currently valid link, that the link references aproper object, and by looking up various link metadata. The linkmetadata can include determining a link_sID, link properties, linkcapabilities (get object, modify link, etc.).

In some embodiments, after link service 136 and the partner service havedetermined that the link is valid and performed any other services withrespect to the link, the method includes creating a file system accessobject pointing to file system 116 of content management system 110 atnode 715. In some embodiments, the file system access object includes atoken having time-to-live to limit a time in which the file systemaccess object remains valid. The file system access object allows anentity having the auth token within the file system access object tointerface with file system 116 to retrieve the object. The time-to-liveensures that future calls for the object are made using the originallink so that link service 136 and the partner service can perform thefunctions they desire when a link is called.

In some embodiments, the method includes sending, by link service 136 tothe partner service, the file system access object pointing to the filesystem. The file system access object includes an authorization token,an identification of an authorized entity, and an object ID at node 720.The file system access object can include information needed to accessfile system 116 and can identify any subject IDs known to link service136. For example, the file system access object can include a link_sIDfor the link, and if the link caller is can be associated with a useraccount known to content management system 110 the file system accessobject can include the user account sID. The file system access objectcan also include an object ID identifying the object to file system 116.

The file system access object can also include metadata instructing thelink caller to access one or more APIs at the file system to get theobject or change permissions to the link, or to interact with LinkService 136 to modify other link properties, such as deleting the link.

In some embodiments, the partner service can receive the file systemaccess object and request 723 the object from file system 116.

The method further includes receiving, by the file system, a request toaccess the object identified in the file system access object at node725. For example, the file system 116 may receive a request to accessthe object identified in the file system access object.

In some embodiments, the method includes sending, by the file system, anaccess level request associated with the file system access object tothe link service at node 740. For example, file system 116 may send anaccess level request associated with the file system access object tolink service 116. While file system 116 can determine permissionsgranted to a subject ID with respect to an object, in some embodiments,link service 136 may also include some additional configurations thatcan affect access to the object. Accordingly, file system 116 cancommunicate with link service 136 to determine any additional accesslevel information.

The link service 136 may determine 745 the access level associated withthe file system access object, and send 750 an access level associatedwith the redirect link to the file system 116. In some embodiments, someof the link access restrictions checks 353 may be redundant with stepstaken at 308, however, this check can confirm that the link has not beenrevoked in the time since issuing the file system access object 335. Thelink access restriction check 353 can also be used to implementadditional link policies not natively supported by file system 116.

In some embodiments, the method includes determining, by the filesystem, whether the file system access object identifies a sID that isgranted access in the access permissions for the object at node 755. Forexample, the file system 116 may determine whether the file systemaccess object identifies a sID that is granted access in the accesspermissions for the object. The authorization token in the redirect linkshould at least identify a link_sID which permits the link to be anactor within the file system. In some embodiments, the authorizationtoken might also identify a sID for a user account at the contentmanagement system.

In some embodiments, the method includes determining that the end userhas a user account at the content management system at node 760. In someembodiments, file system 116 may also determine that the link caller hasa user account at content management system 110. For example, linkservice 136 may have learned that the link caller has an active sessionwith content management system 110 and included 765 the sID for the useraccount in the authorization token. Alternatively, file system 116 maydetect the active session or otherwise identify the link caller as beingassociated with a user account sID. For example, link service 136 orfile system 116 might identify a sID associated with an email addressassociated with the link caller that is provided by the partner service.

When it is determined 760 that the link caller has a user account atcontent management system 110, the method includes updating an identitytable within file system 116 to associate the user account as a memberof the link, whereby the user account is associated with the link atnode 770. In some embodiments, file system 116 represents the objectreferred to by the link in a location in the user account at node 775.For example, the object can be added to the user account by associatingthe user account sID and the oID for the object in file system 116,thereby making the object accessible directly to the user accountwithout requiring the link for future access.

In some embodiments, when the sID is permitted access to the object,sending the object to the partner service consistent with the accesspermissions for the object at node 780. For example, as long as theauthorization token identifies a valid link_sID that provides access tothe object, the link caller can receive the object. This allowsanonymous users to access objects referred to by a link. When the sID ispermitted access to the object, file system 116 sends the object to thelink caller consistent with the access permissions for the object.

In some embodiments, the method includes sending 785 the object to theentity that contacted link service 136. For example, if the partnerservice provided a link to link service 136, the link caller willreceive 787 the object directly from file system 116. FIG. 13illustrates an embodiment wherein file system 116 will send 785 theobject to the partner service, and the partner service can forward theobject to the link caller. In such an embodiment, this allows thepartner service to wrap the object in any UI or markings to make itappear as if the object was served by the partner service.

Co-management of a link by a partner service and a link service caninclude more than both entities applying link logic to determine if alink caller should be entitled to access to an object. While FIG. 13illustrates an embodiment wherein a link caller is requesting an object,the partner service can interact with link service 136 through theco-managed link upon its own initiation.

Co-management of the link allows both entities (the partner service andthe link service 136) to participate in ongoing management on the linkincluding modifying a configuration of the link or deleting a link orfurther sharing a link, etc. In some embodiments, the method includesreceiving, by an API of the link service, from the partner service, anaccess level change request at node 790. For example, API 138 of thelink service may receive an access level change request from the partnerservice, such as third-party service 170. In some embodiments, theaccess level change request includes a change in a least one accessparameter for the object. The change in the at least one accessparameter can be applied to the end user having the link.

Other operations are also possible. In some embodiments the partnerservice can contact link service 136 using the co-managed link. Linkservice 136 can return link metadata including a collection of possiblelink functions that can be performed by link service 136 or by thepartner service interacting with file system 116. The partner servicecan then contact the appropriate API of link service 136 or file system116 to perform the management function or to request or modify theobject that is the subject of the link.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example method for supporting legacy links. Insome embodiments, links may already exist prior to being given to linkservice 136 for management. In such embodiments, the link may alreadydirect to a location other than link service 136. Additionally, the linkmay be associated with a behavior or logic that is different than thebehavior or logic provided by link service 136, and it may beundesirable to change the user experience associated with an existinglink. At the same time, it may be desirable to have content managementsystem 110 store and manage the object pointed to by the link, or tohave link service 136 provide additional link functions. The methodillustrated in FIG. 14 is directed to embodiments such as these.

FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B illustrate sequence diagrams illustratingalternate call flows for supporting a legacy link. In particular, FIG.15A illustrates an example sequence where the link activation directs toan API 138 that calls a function of a link service. This embodiment isuseful when an API is updated to point to link service 136 instead ofthe legacy service. However, FIG. 15B illustrates a sequence for whenthe legacy link continues to point to the legacy link service, and thelegacy link service is updated to refer to link service 136.

A link caller can activate 801 a link. In some embodiments, asillustrated in FIG. 15A the activated link can direct the link caller tothe legacy link service which can receive 802 a request for the object.In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 15B, the activated link candirect the link caller to link service 135, which can receive 803 therequest to access the object referred to by the link. The link service136 can determine 804 the link that referred the link caller to linkservice 136 as a legacy link by looking the link up in link database 510and forward the request to the legacy link service.

In some embodiments, the method includes evaluating the legacy linkaccording to legacy link evaluation logic at node 805. For example, linkservice 136 may evaluate the legacy link according to legacy linkevaluation logic.

In some embodiments, evaluating the legacy link according to legacy linkevaluation logic at node 805 can involve link service 136 interactingwith legacy link logic using external link logic interface 530 tointeract with link logic from the legacy service as illustrated in FIG.15B.

In some embodiments, link service 136 can be configured withinstructions to evaluate the legacy link logic and will not need tocontact the legacy service.

In some embodiments, the legacy link service might determine that thelink caller cannot access the object. For example, some legacy linkservices only permit access when the user that provided access to anobject currently maintains access to the object. If the user the thatprovided access to the object no longer has access to the object, somelegacy link services will not allow others, even when accessing with apublic link, to access the object.

After the legacy link service has determined that the link caller canaccess the object, the legacy link service can attempt to identify aproxy link associated with the object referred to by the legacy link,and call the link service 136 using the proxy link.

However, in some embodiments, a proxy link might not exist yet. In someembodiments, when link service 136 is configured to work with a legacylink service, many links may have been previously issued by the legacylink service. It is likely that many of those links will never beactivated again. As such, it would be inefficient to proactively createa proxy link for every legacy link. Instead, the present technology cancreate a proxy link upon request, when needed. In such an embodiment,the legacy link service can attempt to identify a proxy link associatedwith the object, and if unsuccessful, the legacy link service canrequest a proxy link from link service 136 (not shown) as an alternativeto accessing link service 136 using a known proxy link.

In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a request to provideaccess to an object referred to by a legacy link at node 810. Forexample, the link service 136 may receive a request to provide access toan object referred to by a legacy link. The request can be the result ofthe legacy link service following a proxy link for the object referredto by the legacy link or by making a request for a proxy link to beissued.

If the request 810 was the first request for the legacy link received bylink service 136, and the legacy link service is requesting a proxylink, it may be necessary to configure a link_sID in object storage 142,and to configure a proxy link, or link service 136 may already have aproxy link established for the object. If a new proxy link needs to becreated, link service 136 can communicate with file system 116 usingfile system interface 525 to create a proxy link that is associated witha link_sID at file system 116. In some embodiments, the proxy link isassociated with its own subject ID (link_sID) in the file system. Forexample, the method includes generating by the link service, a proxylink pointing to the file system object at node 815, and file system 116can configure the proxy link and record 817 the link_sID for the proxylink. For example, the link service 136 may generate a proxy linkpointing to file system 116.

In some embodiments, when the request 810 was the first request for thelegacy link received by link service 136, and the legacy link service isrequesting a proxy link, link service 136 might already have a proxylink created to the object that can be reused. For example, link service136 might have created a proxy link to the object for a different legacylink, and this proxy link can be reused. Proxy links are a bit differentfrom the co-managed link in FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 13 , or the link inFIGS. 5, and 6 because those links map to a policy (permissionstatements) in file system 116 and perhaps at link service 136 too,whereas legacy links have their policy controlled by the legacy linkservice. As such each proxy link for one or more a legacy linkstypically has the same policy (permission statements) associated withthe link in file system 116. A link_SID of a proxy link, is allowed toread and write to the object according to file system 116. Anyadditional restrictions from the legacy link service can be imposed bylink service 136 at block 837, addressed below.

When the proxy link has already been configured, link service 136 canrequest the object from file system 116 using the proxy link andproviding the Link sID and any known user sID. The file system canreturn a file system access object that includes an authorization token,an identification of an authorized entity, and an object ID. In someembodiments, the file system access object includes a token havingtime-to-live to limit a time in which the file system access objectremains valid. The time-to-live can be relatively short to ensure thatwhen the link caller desires to access the object again, they will haveto use the legacy link and be subject to the legacy link logic.

In some embodiments, the method includes receiving, by the file system,a request 830 for the object identified in the file system accessobject. For example, file system 116 may receive a request 830 for theobject identified in the file system access object. The file systemaccess object can include an authorization token including anidentification of the authorized entity. When the authorization tokenincludes 835 a subject ID (sID and/or link_sID) that is granted accessin the access permissions for the object at node 835, file system 116can send the object, and the the link caller consistent with the accesspermissions for the object at node 840. In some embodiments, prior tosending 840 the object to the link caller, file system 116 can interactwith link service 136 to determine 837 whether any other link accessrestrictions might be in place—for example, such as access restrictionsdictated by the legacy link service.

The link caller can receive 845 the object.

FIG. 16 shows an example of computing system 900, which can be forexample any computing device making up link service 136, or anycomponent thereof in which the components of the system are incommunication with each other using connection 905. Connection 905 canbe a physical connection via a bus, or a direct connection intoprocessor 910, such as in a chipset architecture. Connection 905 canalso be a virtual connection, networked connection, or logicalconnection.

In some embodiments, computing system 900 is a distributed system inwhich the functions described in this disclosure can be distributedwithin a datacenter, multiple data centers, a peer network, etc. In someembodiments, one or more of the described system components representsmany such components each performing some or all of the function forwhich the component is described. In some embodiments, the componentscan be physical or virtual devices.

Example system 900 includes at least one processing unit (CPU orprocessor) 910 and connection 905 that couples various system componentsincluding system memory 915, such as read-only memory (ROM) 920 andrandom access memory (RAM) 925 to processor 910. Computing system 900can include a cache of high-speed memory 912 connected directly with, inclose proximity to, or integrated as part of processor 910.

Processor 910 can include any general purpose processor and a hardwareservice or software service, such as services 932, 934, and 936 storedin storage device 930, configured to control processor 910 as well as aspecial-purpose processor where software instructions are incorporatedinto the actual processor design. Processor 910 may essentially be acompletely self-contained computing system, containing multiple cores orprocessors, a bus, memory controller, cache, etc. A multi-core processormay be symmetric or asymmetric.

To enable user interaction, computing system 900 includes an inputdevice 945, which can represent any number of input mechanisms, such asa microphone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture orgraphical input, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech, etc. Computingsystem 900 can also include output device 935, which can be one or moreof a number of output mechanisms known to those of skill in the art. Insome instances, multimodal systems can enable a user to provide multipletypes of input/output to communicate with computing system 900.Computing system 900 can include communications interface 940, which cangenerally govern and manage the user input and system output. There isno restriction on operating on any particular hardware arrangement, andtherefore the basic features here may easily be substituted for improvedhardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.

Storage device 930 can be a non-volatile memory device and can be a harddisk or other types of computer readable media which can store data thatare accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, solid state memory devices, digital versatile disks, cartridges,random access memories (RAMs), read-only memory (ROM), and/or somecombination of these devices.

The storage device 930 can include software services, servers, services,etc., that when the code that defines such software is executed by theprocessor 910, it causes the system to perform a function. In someembodiments, a hardware service that performs a particular function caninclude the software component stored in a computer-readable medium inconnection with the necessary hardware components, such as processor910, connection 905, output device 935, etc., to carry out the function.

For clarity of explanation, in some instances, the present technologymay be presented as including individual functional blocks includingfunctional blocks comprising devices, device components, steps orroutines in a method embodied in software, or combinations of hardwareand software.

Any of the steps, operations, functions, or processes described hereinmay be performed or implemented by a combination of hardware andsoftware services or services, alone or in combination with otherdevices. In some embodiments, a service can be software that resides inmemory of a client device and/or one or more servers of a contentmanagement system and perform one or more functions when a processorexecutes the software associated with the service. In some embodiments,a service is a program or a collection of programs that carry out aspecific function. In some embodiments, a service can be considered aserver. The memory can be a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage devices, mediums, andmemories can include a cable or wireless signal containing a bit streamand the like. However, when mentioned, non-transitory computer-readablestorage media expressly exclude media such as energy, carrier signals,electromagnetic waves, and signals per se.

Methods according to the above-described examples can be implementedusing computer-executable instructions that are stored or otherwiseavailable from computer-readable media. Such instructions can comprise,for example, instructions and data which cause or otherwise configure ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing device to perform a certain function or group of functions.Portions of computer resources used can be accessible over a network.The executable computer instructions may be, for example, binaries,intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, orsource code. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used tostore instructions, information used, and/or information created duringmethods according to described examples include magnetic or opticaldisks, solid-state memory devices, flash memory, USB devices providedwith non-volatile memory, networked storage devices, and so on.

Devices implementing methods according to these disclosures can comprisehardware, firmware and/or software, and can take any of a variety ofform factors. Typical examples of such form factors include servers,laptops, smartphones, small form factor personal computers, personaldigital assistants, and so on. The functionality described herein alsocan be embodied in peripherals or add-in cards. Such functionality canalso be implemented on a circuit board among different chips ordifferent processes executing in a single device, by way of furtherexample.

The instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computingresources for executing them, and other structures for supporting suchcomputing resources are means for providing the functions described inthese disclosures.

What is claimed is:
 1. A link-platform-as-a-service system comprising:at least one API for providing one or more services pertaining to links;a link generation service for generating links; a link database forstoring information about links and respective targets and policiesassociated with the links; and a link access service for receiving arequest to access links, and determining if a particular link is valid,and interacting with the link database to determine to which service andobject the particular link refers.
 2. The link-platform-as-a-servicesystem of claim 1, wherein the link generation service is configured to:receive a request to generate a link to the object; present a linkcreation user interface that identifies the object and selectableoptions that can be associated with the link; and generate the link. 3.The link-platform-as-a-service system of claim 1, wherein the linkaccess service is configured to: receive a request to access the link;perform abuse prevention and link access logging functions; and send alink access message to the service containing the object to which thelink refers, the link access message identifying a link ID, and arequesting user information.
 4. The link-platform-as-a-service system ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one API is configured to: receive arequest to perform an operation in association with a link or a linkcreator; and return results of the operation to an authorized requester.5. The link-platform-as-a-service system of claim 1, wherein the atleast one API is configured to: receive a request modify an access levelprovided by the link; and send a modified access statement to a filesystem.
 6. The link-platform-as-a-service system of claim 1, wherein theat least one API is configured to: receive a request modify an accesspermission provided to a user account by the link; and send a modifiedaccess statement to a file system modifying the access permission to theobject for the user account.
 7. A method for providing link services bya link-platform-as-a-service, the method comprising: receiving a requestto configure a link for management by the link-platform-as-a-servicefrom a partner service, the request to configure the link includinginformation about an option to be associated with the link; receiving arequest to access an object that is a subject of the link; processingthe link in accordance with the option associated with the link; andvalidating the link.
 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:creating the link by interfacing with a file system to establish thelink as subject with access permissions to the object in the filesystem.
 9. The method of claim 8, comprising: after the validating thelink, sending a file system access link with an authorization token toaccess the object from the file system to the partner service or a linkcaller.
 10. The method of claim 7, comprising: creating the link andstoring metadata corresponding to the link, wherein the metadataincludes the option associated with the link.
 11. The method of claim 7,wherein the option is to store the object that is the subject of thelink at the partner service, the method comprising: after validating thelink, redirecting a link caller in a communication including an accesstoken to get the object from the partner service.
 12. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the option is to enable the partner service to performa portion of the link validation, wherein the processing the link inaccordance with the option includes: after receiving the request toaccess the object, redirecting a link caller to the partner service. 13.The method of claim 7, wherein the option is for the partner service toprovide a public link that directs to the partner service, wherein thereceiving the request to access the object is a result of the partnerservice calling the link service or redirecting a link caller to thelink service.
 14. The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving arequest from the partner service to modify an access permissionassociated with the link; and interfacing with the file system to modifythe access permission associated with the link in the file system.
 15. Anon-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, theinstructions, when executed by a link-platform-as-a-service, cause thelink-platform-as-a-service to: receive a request to configure a link formanagement from a partner service, the request to configure the linkincluding information about an option to be associated with the link;receive a request to access an object that is a subject of the link;process the link in accordance with the option associated with the link;and validating the link.
 16. The computer readable medium of claim 15,wherein the computer readable medium further comprises instructionsthat, when executed by the link-platform-as-a-service, cause thelink-platform-as-a-service to: interface with a file system to establishthe link as subject with access permissions to the object in the filesystem.
 17. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein thecomputer readable medium further comprises instructions that, whenexecuted by the link-platform-as-a-service, cause thelink-platform-as-a-service to: after the validating the link, send afile system access link with an authorization token to access the objectfrom the file system to the partner service or a link caller.
 18. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the option is to store theobject that is the subject of the link at the partner service, theinstructions cause the link-platform-as-a-service to: after validatingthe link, redirect a link caller in a communication including an accesstoken to get the object from the partner service.
 19. The computerreadable medium of claim 15, wherein the option is to enable the partnerservice to perform a portion of the link validation, the processing thelink in accordance with the option includes: after receiving the requestto access the object redirecting a link caller to the partner service.20. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the computerreadable medium further comprises instructions that, when executed bythe link-platform-as-a-service, cause the link-platform-as-a-service to:receive a request from the partner service to modify an accesspermission associated with the link; and interface with the file systemto modify the access permission associated with the link in the filesystem.